The very little town of Santa Cruz

Yesterday, I took a short road trip to a puebla (small town) called Santa Cruz.

Santa Cruz is 40 kilometers east of Nogales. The town lay behind the mountain range that runs north-south to the east of Nogales. I have wondered what lay behind the mountains that I can see from the Cuirim House. Here was my chance to find out.

The only road to Santa Cruz is dirt, full of rocks and extremely bumpy. A good speed that wasn’t too uncomfortable was about 35 miles per hour. The mountains were beautiful and there were more trees there than in Nogales. There were several scenic areas with dry river beds full of small rocks, large deciduous trees and lots of small animals. The road wound up the side of the mountain higher and higher. There were rocks that looked like marble and rocks of red, yellow and orange. Some rocks we found looked like volcanic rock. The sound of the wind through the trees was musical.

One place we stopped there was a dry waterfall with a shallow cave next to it. Unfortunately, after discovering it, it didn’t occur to me to take a picture. It reminded me of hiking through the Blue Ridge Mountains in autumn. By lunch time, we entered the town.

Santa Cruz reminded me of a small, out-of-the-way Mexican town that you see in movies with dusty streets, tumbleweeds, old men sitting in front of houses and the occasional barking dog. I wondered what in the world do people do to make a living. There were no farms, no factories, and few businesses of any sort.

In fact, there are no proper restaurants in Santa Cruz. We asked several people and we were directed to different houses but could not find a restaurant at these houses. The last person we talked to invited us to take lunch with her. As we sat in her kitchen and she served up beef stew, beans and flour tortillas, she said that there were no restaurants in the town but people sell food from their homes. She was an older woman with three adult children living in her home. She has 10 children total with one son having died some years ago. She answered our question as to what people do for work in Santa Cruz. Our hostess said that most everyone either sells marijuana or arranges for it to be delivered to the U.S. across the desert. That would explain the really nice houses and really nice trucks all through a town in the middle of nowhere. Miguel shared with her how Jesus Christ has changed his life and saved him from his drug addiction. We gave her $10 for our meal and left after blessing her and her house.

As we left, I saw something I had no expected. Growing on a fence next to the road was……….honeysuckle! I couldn’t believe it. I have thought often during this spring that this is the first time ever I will not see or smell honeysuckle because I am in Mexico. I didn’t think it grew in the high desert. But there it was, beautifully draped across the wire mesh and smelling as fragrant and fresh as always. I am grateful for this gift from God. He knew that I have wanted to smell honeysuckle and there it was!

The road to Santa Cruz comes within 25 yards of the US/Mexico border. The border fence in and around Nogales is solid steel, at least 20 feet tall and is topped with razor wire. Here the border fence consists of 7 strands of barbed wire fixed to metal poles and is about 4 ½ feet high. On the US side, there are pieces of steel welded together to make another fence. I imagine that it keeps drug runners from crashing their big black Chevy Suburban 4X4s through the barbed wire. Miguel contemplated entering the U.S. illegally but then changed his mind.

The trip back was beautiful as a storm front swept in, framing the mountains of green and brown against the blue-gray sky and it rained for the first time in 3 months.

The Kid's Café

In our neighborhood, there are children who do not eat a nutritious meal regularly due to poverty or parental neglect. To address this need, the Kid’s Café was developed as a ministry partnership between Cuirim Outreach and Iglesia Vida Nueva (New Life Church). Three times a week, Miguel Correa cooks a hot meal for the neighborhood children. Typically, between 70 and 80 children are served at the Kid’s Café each day. The menu changes from week to week. Sometimes Miguel cooks traditional Mexican food (well, it is just food here in Mexico). At other times, he serves more American style meals like hamburgers or spaghetti. Here is Miguel:

Older brothers and sisters bring their younger siblings and sometimes their parents visit to eat and talk. I myself know that several of the children come from families who are barely surviving financially and who could never afford to buy quality meat or vegetables. Before each meal, the children are led in a prayer of thanks to God for his provision.

The Café is more than just a place to eat. Usually after each meal, a member of the church leads the children in a Bible study. This past week, Lourdes taught the children about the Fall of Jericho. She used a flannel graph presentation. It reminded me of being a kid in Sunday School.

Before the lesson, Octavio led the children in a prayer for the victims of a terrible school bus accident in Nogales in which six children died. After the lesson, Octavio led the children in marching around Miguel's truck seven times, blowing whistles and yelling as the Israelites did at Jericho. I wish I had my camera when they did this because it was extraordinary to watch.

The Kid’s Café draws the attention of our neighbors toward Jesus Christ by meeting both their physical and spiritual needs. It has allowed the church to witness further into the neighborhood and offers church members a place to serve, to bless and be blessed. It is a place where children receive instruction on living rightly before God and their neighbors.

Thanks for praying for this work and for these children and their families. Thanks to all of you who give to the Kid’s Café. As donations allow, we are hoping to be able to build a playground at the Kid’s Café, too.

Dios te bendiga!